Offering truth beyond the mere black and white.
"Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will." -- Antonio Gramsci"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." -- John Kenneth Galbraith"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

Tuesday, February 06, 2018

Over the last few days, the stock market has been plunging, effectively wiping out two months worth of gains.

But where are the Trump tweets now concerning the market? He's been stone silent on this topic, a topic he has loved to comment on repeatedly since taking office. Whenever the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) hit a new high, we heard about it. The rising stock market became synonymous with Trump, largely due to him taking full credit for its rise.

I cannot ever recall another president in history so frequently commenting on the market. Past presidents likely realized that:

1) The stock market is an incredibly complex apparatus that moves for many reasons, most of which even the "experts" cannot fathom at the time (markets discount the future, making it difficult to ascertain why prices are rising or falling in the here and now). That said the POTUS is only one of several factors impacting the market at any given time.

2) If you bought it, you own it. Prior presidents fully understood that if you want to take credit for a rising stock market, you better be ready to likewise accept blame for when stocks inevitably head south.

But as we know, Trump is "different" and likely too ignorant to realize both #1 and #2.

The fact remains that Trump's constant tweets and reminders about the market hitting new highs was and is incredibly irresponsible. We all know he's a shameless huckster, a two-bit salesman who will hype the hell out of anything that benefits him. But there are laws and regulations about "selling" when it comes to stocks, bonds, etc. Financial advisors and the like have to be very careful about what they say when it comes to hyping or promising investment performance. They're expected to err on the side of caution, to be prudent and transparent when discussing not just reward but more importantly, risk.

All of these laws and regulations are to protect the investor. It's very easy for someone to get caught up in the hysteria of a rising market, which increasingly makes them susceptible to acting on emotion as opposed to reason. An unscrupulous, dishonest advisor could take full advantage of this situation -- if not for the laws and regulations.

Yet laws and regulations to Trump are just bureaucratic red tape that stand in the way of prosperity. They're a hindrance and not to be taking seriously.

Just imagine how many people were overly influenced by Trump's tweets and incessant mentions of stock market highs, allowing it to color their judgment and perhaps they increased their allocation to stocks above and beyond what was prudent for them. Which was great while the market climbed higher each day, but now with stocks seemingly in free-fall, it's not so fun anymore.

So how many millions or billions of dollars of stock market gains were due to Trump's deliberate, non-stop hyping? And isn't he then on the hook for the losses too? If this stock market downturn continues, can we expect to see investors increasingly blame Trump for their losses? I mean, according to him, it appeared stocks could only go in one direction.

I'm just curious to see how he'll blame things on Obama and/or the Democrats.

Monday, January 22, 2018

I would argue -- as Sen. Graham apparently does -- that Trump's
staff (specifically John Kelly and Stephen Miller) is to blame for this shutdown, and
therefore ultimately Trump himself.

It's
my understanding that more than one bipartisan compromise has been
presented to Trump, and given he's an awful negotiator AND has no real
strong policy beliefs, he was ready to go with any of these compromises
-- BUT Kelly and/or Miller convinced him to decline. Both are
immigration hawks, but more so they likely reminded Trump that
compromise would not go over well with "his base."

And if there's one
thing we can learn from his one-year in office, Trump will do anything
to appease or please his "base" supporters.

Just another lie when he said, "I will be president for all Americans." Nah, more like 30%-35% of Americans.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

It's not surprising Trump mentioned the country of Norway amidst his "sh*thole" ordeal. Norway is somewhere between 85%-90% white. That fact is likely one of the few that Trump knows cold.

Of course, the irony is lost on clueless Trump that Norway also happens to be one of the most socialist countries in the world. As in Bernie Sanders socialist. Norway has universal health care, tuition-free college education, one-year paid maternity leave, 52% of workers are unionized (vs. 10% in U.S.).

And despite being so socialist, Forbes magazine ranked Norway as one of the top-10 best countries in the world to do business (U.S. was just #18).

Finally, Norway is perennially near the top of the list when ranking the happiest countries.

No doubt Trump knew none of these other facts, only the one about Norwegians' predominant skin color.